When we started Firebrand, I was often asked ‘who is your target client?’ In the first few weeks, I found this an odd question – ‘well, anyone really.’ But it’s one that needs answering if we’re to succeed.

As we grow Firebrand, we’re sharing decisions in starting up an agency. One early debate is about job titles – namely what they should be, which levels and who gets what. Instead, we opted to kill job titles entirely. Here’s why.

Commercially PR firms are pretty simple. Revenues tend to be predictable since most clients are on a monthly retainer. Costs are relatively flexible since payroll and staff costs are the majority. As you win more…

Firebrand is now a month old. We’re signing up our first clients, hiring our first team members, and getting the systems in place. Agency life is a rollercoaster, so right now after the big climb to launch, we’re accelerating into the drop, hands in the air while screaming something joyously incoherent a few octaves too high for respectability. We’re having fun, so I thought I’d share five lessons learned so far.

After twenty years, I am leaving my PR agency, LEWIS. That’s a long time to work with one firm, especially in an industry where average tenure is about three years. So I thought I’d take this chance to talk about two things – the importance of tenure, and what’s next for me personally.